There are many inconvenient truths about the European pet trade which can be summarised in one sentence: sometimes we love our pets to death. One of the most worrying aspects is that buying a dog or a cat in Europe is extremely easy, literally a click away.
This way of acquiring pets is very popular: around 60% of dog and cat owners purchase their animal companions online. This corresponds to a staggering 4.8 million dogs and 1.2 million cats bought online every year. The legislation regulating the activities of breeders and sellers is very basic and provides many loopholes.
If we combine the weakness of existing rules, the high demand for puppies, and the juicy profits, we obtain the current landscape of fraudulent practices. The breeding and trade of cats and dogs within the EU is valued at 1.3 billion EUR annually, with an estimated 430,000 dogs and 80,000 on offer at any given moment on the market.
Online adverts make traceability and transparency very difficult to verify, and often the animals come from unscrupulous breeders and pass through many hands (traders, transporters) before reaching their destination.
Recent investigations show that the illegal pet trade is an extremely widespread and well-organised criminal network that causes problems in the first instance to the traded puppies. They are often taken from their mothers prematurely, in poor health, not vaccinated, and transported with counterfeit documentation.
These puppies, if they reach their final destination, will often die soon after due to lack of immunity and appropriate care, which is clearly a traumatic experience for the buyers as well as cruelty to animals. The cross-border trade of undocumented animals is also a risk for the transmission of diseases, some of which are dangerous to human health.
Positive elements in new legislation
For all these reasons, we welcome the recent legislative proposal of the European Commission on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability. The proposal introduces many positive elements: dogs and - for the first time, cats - must be correctly registered and identified, and their data must be accessible via an EU-wide database;
There will also be stricter requirements for online sales and imports as well as stricter rules for breeders and caretakers; cosmetic and convenience mutilations (e.g., tail docking and ear cropping) will be banned; last, but not least, the welfare of the animals at the core of this trade will be better protected.
The concept of responsible ownership has been introduced, and animal well-being is defined according to the five domains model, which focuses on positive experiences and a good mental state. The current cat and dog trade will improve if these provisions become law.
…. but loopholes remain
However, the proposal overlooks several important issues that need to be tackled during the next stages of the negotiations with the European Parliament and the Council. For instance, it does not include a prospective ban on the sale of cats and dogs in pet shops (which is already in force in some Member States), nor does it address the abuse of artificial insemination by non-veterinary operators.
Artificial insemination must not be used as a default or to overcome problems due to the inability of the dogs or cats to mate and conceive naturally. It may only be considered exceptionally to increase genetic variability and must only be performed by a veterinarian.
The Commission’s draft text also fails to mention specific actions to curb the extreme breeding of flat-faced cats and dogs. Once again, some Member States have already taken action to limit the breeding of animals whose extreme features make them susceptible to serious suffering or death.
European veterinarians are unanimous in calling for an end to breeding practices for extreme traits such as flat faces, small heads, bulging eyes, and dwarfism. The Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations (FECAVA) and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) have released an impactful joint campaign on this topic.
The pug dog that says, “I would love to run if only I could breathe", is an unforgettable case in point. Legislation banning ownership and the use of animals with extreme physical traits in the media, at exhibitions and competitions, could provide better guarantees that the breeding of such animals would also stop.
The need for these measures is highlighted in the findings of the EU enforcement action on illegal pet trade, which shed light on the major routes of pet trafficking and identified the challenges in tackling such trade.
Finally, we believe that any new European pet trade rules should include all the species that can be lawfully traded as companion animals based on a systematic assessment of their suitability to be kept in a household (a “positive list”), and that these rules should apply throughout the trade chain.
